saablog

When I arrived at Salt Lake International Airport Wednesday evening, I spotted two identical Shelby Mustang GT-H cars parked in the Hertz row, with their gold stripes over black paint. Both Automobile and Car and Driver had write-ups about renting the GT-H, and they seem like a lot of fun.

Sadly, my reservation was with Avis, for a standard mid-size car. I got a Pontiac G6, the first G6 I’ve rented since they were introduced, and a welcome change from the fleet of Tauruses (Tauri?) I’ve been renting lately. The G6 is a nice upgrade from previous Pontiacs, this one even has a sun roof, though it’s gold exterior color doesn’t go well with the car’s shape.

 The devil's gold Pontiac. Check out the license plate.

Since I arrived during the dinner hour, I decided to have dinner at Salt Lake’s Metropolitan, one of the best (in terms of both ambience and food) restaurants I’ve found in Utah. I ordered one of their house margaritas, a vegetable dish, and an appetizer cheese plate. It was a pleasant meal in a typically empty Utah restaurant. Parking had been at a premium on S. Broadway (300 S), so I parked two blocks away on 300 S near the intersection of 300 W.

When I left the restaurant, I headed north on 300 W to get to North Temple, where I turned left to make my way to Interstate 15. Between 300 W and 600 W, North Temple is a bridge that rises above grade to drive over a rail yard. On the first half of the bridge you’re driving significantly uphill, on the other half you’re driving significantly down hill. There is a traffic signal at each end of the bridge.

 I turned left at this intersection, to head across the bridge shown in the photo.

I’m not sure whether there is a speed limit sign on the bridge or not. What I am sure of is that the bridge looks like a highway, so it doesn’t feel like a city street with a 35 MPH speed limit. Coasting down the second half of the bridge to the red light, it isn’t hard to exceed 35 MPH. Officer Smith of the Salt Lake Police Department clocked me at 48 MPH coming down that bridge. He and two of his motorcycle police buddies had a speed trap set up, and they pulled over three of us as we pulled away from the light at 600 W.

After checking my license and registration, Officer Smith came back with a traffic citation, written for 5 over the limit. He couldn’t tell me the amount of the citation, he referred me to the web site on the ticket, www.slcgov.com/courts/traffic.htm . He told me to drive safely and enjoy my visit to Salt Lake. Right. I think he pretty much ruined a visit I was already not happy about.

 click to make the image bigger

I haven’t had a speeding ticket in almost 10 years. My only other speeding ticket was in autumn of 1996, shortly after buying my ’95 900 S. I was returning to Portland from Seattle on a Sunday evening, and was clocked by the Washington State Patrol traveling 78 MPH in a 65 MPH zone at milepost 66 on I-5. I didn’t really mind, I thought it was a little funny, a speeding ticket in my sporty new car, paying the “speed tax” on a road where I sped (and still do speed) regularly.

I don’t feel the same way about this ticket in Salt Lake. I feel like a victimized tourist. Maybe that’s a bit extreme… but I was ticketed in a revenue-producing speed trap on a thoroughfare where I was driving the same speed as other traffic. It’s not the $92 fine (amount obtained from the web site) as much as it is the fact that this will mean points on my license. The other thing that really bugs me is that we have fast, cool cars, but I didn’t get a speeding ticket in any of them. I got a ticket in a friggin gold Pontiac.

On my way to the airport, I decided to investigate, and to try to get out of the ticket. It turns out there are two 35 MPH speed limit signs on the bridge; one right at the beginning, and one right up at the top. But I was correct in my recollection that North Temple has a faster speed limit. In the block after this bridge, the limit goes up to 40 MPH. About 4  blocks later it increases to 50 MPH.

After seeing all of this, I went to the Salt Lake City Corporation Justice Center. Yes, the city is a corporation. Privately held by the LDS church, I'd surmise. For any traffic offense in Salt Lake City, you have the right to speak to a hearing officer about the ticket. I waited my turn and talked to Jason, my hearing officer.  He said that is a common place for people to be stopped for speeding (evidently he's in on the scam). He said it was unfortunate that I tried to rely on memory for the speed limit on North Temple, as there are two speed limit signs posted on that bridge. He even knew where the signs were, he must get a lot of people contesting the ticket in that speed trap.

He told me the fine is $92, paid without pleading guilty to speeding. There was no way to reduce the fine since the officer had written the ticket for 5 MPH over even though I was actually 13 over. I asked whether I could keep the ticket off of my driving record, and he told me I could make a "Plea in Abeyance", pay $50 and go to driving school, a one-hour class with a test at the end. Or I could pay the $50 and take the test without sitting for the class. Since the class was at 7:00 PM and my flight was at 7:30, I couldn't go. I decided to pay the $$ and take the test.

It was a written true/false driving test, with 20 questions. You could miss 4 and still pass, but miss 5 and you fail. It took me less than 5 minutes. I missed one question, about whether you need to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights if you're traveling in the other direction on a divided highway. In Utah, you don't. I'm sure that you do have to stop in Oregon, and I answered the question saying you must stop.

So that was that. I paid my $142 dollars tithe to the Salt Lake City Corporation and I'm done with it. That's money that came right out of the "900 upgrades" fund. Now I've decided to boycott Salt Lake City. That does mean I'll miss out on the only restaurant I really like in Utah, but that's OK. If I have to go to Utah for work, I'll stay in other cities, eat in other cities, etc. I've never had a client in SLC proper, so it won't be a big hassle to me. But it will make me feel right in my own petty little way. My friends, I ask you to also BOYCOTT SALT LAKE CITY!